Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday unveiled a 'development-oriented' manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal, promising an income scheme for all families, a student credit card and constitution of a task force to examine the inclusion of several communities under the OBC category.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Assam and participated in a grand Jhumoir dance performance, celebrating 200 years of the state's tea industry and the rich cultural heritage of the tea tribe community. He played a traditional drum of the tea tribe community, highlighting the government's efforts to support the tea industry and uplift the tea tribe community. The event, attended by dignitaries and ambassadors from around 60 countries, showcased Assam's vibrant traditions to a global audience.
S P Singh Baghel and B L Verma who made it to the Union council of ministers on Wednesday are two prominent Other Backward Classes leaders from Uttar Pradesh.
Pooja Khedkar, a 2022 batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam, an official said on Wednesday.
Haryana is now in the same bracket as Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh where the BJP is the centre-point of politics.
'The Dravidian movement was started for the Hindus who were rejected by the upper castes.'
The Maharashtra government will bring an ordinance to grant OBC quota in upcoming by-elections to a set of local governing bodies without crossing the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent cap on reservation, said state minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday.
Stating that RTE covers compulsory education up to class 8th for all students, the government has now limited its pre-matric scholarship scheme meant for backward and minority communities to students of class 9th and 10th.
A bench comprising justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheswari and C T Ravikumar was told by senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, who appeared in the matter on behalf of the state government, that a plea seeking a recall of the order was filed electronically on Monday.
This will pave the way for emergence of 24,000 new panchayat-level leaders in Telangana, he said.
The order that was passed less than a week ahead of the first phase of polls scheduled on October 10 throws a spanner in the election process.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for "handing over the remote control" of the party to the Congress as he took poll battle to Mumbai with less than a week left for voting in Maharashtra.
Dealing with the validity of OBC quota, the bench said, "Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination which only provides formal equality of opportunity. Competitive examinations assess basic current competency to allocate educational resources but are not reflective of excellence, capabilities and potential of an individual which are also shaped by lived experiences, subsequent training and individual character."
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
I learnt that Yogi was deeply unhappy with the BJP's choice of Lok Sabha candidates. He had proposed a list of names, but hardly any of his suggestions were accepted.
The government on Thursday announced a 27 per cent quota for OBCs and 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections in the all-India quota scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses from the current academic year, 2021-22.
'Let Fadnavisji prove to the people of Maharashtra that he acts fairly against one and all.'
A day after OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya resigned from the Uttar Pradesh cabinet citing apathy towards the backward classes, Dara Singh Chauhan too resigned as minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.
Shiv Sena's Dadaji Bhuse is the new school education minister while Uday Samant continues to be the industries minister.
The Supreme Court of India directed the government to establish a legal framework to protect domestic workers and address their exploitation.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav has successfully poached a number of OBC leaders from the ruling party, including Swami Prasad Maurya, in his efforts to broaden his party's social base beyond the traditional Muslim and Yadav votebank to take it on this time round.
The government also ruled out having a re-look at the present reservation system.
"A call, 'No Vote to BJP', will be given during the Vidhan Sabha elections if assurances made by union leaders, including the Prime Minister, are not fulfilled shortly," samiti national president Yashpal Malik on Thursday said.
The bench said that validity of criteria of Rs 8 lakh for determination of EWS for future years will be subject to final adjudication of the batch of petitions and listed the pleas for final hearing on March 5.
Hailing the passage of a bill that restores states' rights to identify Other Backward Classes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that it underscores his government's commitment to ensuring dignity, opportunity and justice to the marginalised sections.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Congress will protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs and foil "conspiracies" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The reservation policy requires a fresh relook and new methods are needed for the uplift of people belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Schedule Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), Supreme Court judge Justice Pankaj Mithal said on Thursday.
Maratha activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday suspended his indefinite fast, which he began five days ago over the quota issue, stating that his community members say they want him alive to fight for the cause.
Before going to the police, Karad posted a video on social media, announcing that he would surrender and claimed he was being linked to the murder case due to political vendetta.
The opposition parties on Sunday slammed the move to hire public servants through lateral entry, claiming it will snatch reservations from SCs, STs and OBCs, but the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back stating the National Democratic Alliance government was bringing transparency to this mode of recruitment started by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi's reaction to President Droupadi Murmu's address to the Joint session of the Parliament on Friday stoked a controversy.
The poll aspirants who feel threatened are seeking to garner sympathy from their voters by meeting influential leaders like Jarange in the Marathwada region
Hours after the Congress party released its first list of 144 candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, Vice President of Congress Media Department Ajay Singh Yadav resigned from his post as fewer candidates from backward classes have been fielded by the party.
President Droupadi Murmu, in her address to the nation on Republic Day, advocated for the "One Nation One Election" initiative, emphasizing its potential to enhance governance and reduce financial burdens. She highlighted the government's efforts to eliminate remnants of colonialism, citing the replacement of British-era criminal laws with modern alternatives. Murmu also lauded India's economic progress, stressing the importance of inclusive growth and social welfare. She urged citizens to remember the sacrifices of freedom fighters and reaffirmed the significance of the Constitution in guiding India's journey towards a prosperous and equitable future.
On Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused BJP MP Anurag Thakur of "abusing and insulting" him during the Lok Sabha discussion on the Union Budget.
Hours after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party put out its first list of 67 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, sitting MLA Lakshman Dass Napa quit the party while former minister Karan Dev Kamboj stepped down as state unit's OBC Morcha chief after being denied tickets.
Samajwadi Party candidate Afzal Ansari is the incumbent MP and slain don Mukhtar Ansari's elder brother. Afzal had won the 2019 election on a BSP ticket after defeating the BJP's Manoj Sinha, now the J&K lieutenant governor.
'Jairam Mahto's new party dented the NDA because he pulled a lot of the OBC vote.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he wants the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to win 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls to ensure the Congress does not bring back Article 370 in Kashmir and put a 'Babri lock' on the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
